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Mojang Wins First Round of "Scrolls" Legal Dispute

Mojang's in-development hybrid collectible card game and board game can still be called Scrolls, no matter how Bethesda's legal team feels about it. Markus "Notch" Persson, the head of the studio that created Minecraft, announced today that a Swedish court refused to award Bethesda an interim injunction that would have prevented Mojang from using the Scrolls name.

On August 5, the same day Persson announced Minecraft had passed 3 million copies sold, he announced via his blog, The Word of Notch that Bethesda had filed a lawsuit against Mojang for use of the name Scrolls. According to Bethesda, the name infringes on the company's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim trademark. Persson offered to resolve the dispute with a Quake tournament, but Bethesda didn't bite.

Again taking to his blog, The Word of Notch, and his Twitter account, Persson broke the news that Mojang can continue to use the name Scrolls, though Bethesda does have the right to appeal the interim injunction ruling, and it can still proceed with full legal action against Mojang if it chooses.

"We won the interim injunction!" Persson stated in the first of a series of Tweets. "We can keep using the name 'Scrolls.' ZeniMax/Bethesda can still appeal the ruling, but I'm very happy. :D"

"No matter how this plays out, we should still do the quake game. :D"

"Sure, it might go on, but this is a first victory, and it feels great."

"I am very happy. :) We never meant to infringe on anything Bethesda does, and this means we didn't. :D I love those guys."

Bethesda has yet to respond to the ruling. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is set for launch on November 11. Scrolls is in development with a TBA release date.

Spy Guy says: Silly Bethesda. What a waste of time and money. No one will ever confuse Mojang's CCG/board game with your open-world RPG -- which is Skyrim to everyone not looking for ways to create billable hours.